News bulletin: You still can't conduct your job search from your computer. With that, here are four stark realities of a job search in the age of Not Much Has Changed When Job Hunting.

Reality No. 1: No one cares about your former title.

Being vice president of such-and-such or a customer service representative means little to your next employer who only cares what you can do for them. That's what employers cared about 30 years ago and it's still the secret to getting hired.

But if you keep thinking of yourself as your title, you perpetuate the problem of how you see and market yourself.

Take this laid-off vice president for a private student-loan company featured in a recent New York Times article who said: "My problem is, I have no credential. I'm not a lawyer or doctor, not in pharmaceuticals, not an expert in women's fashion. I have no broker's license or insurance certificate."

This is ludicrous. Just because you lack capital letters after your name or a title that quickly captures your past doesn't mean you're worthless or others can't understand your value.

The article points out that just getting people to understand what he did for a living — setting up loan programs for colleges — "is often not possible." It is possible, and he better figure it out.

That means thinking through then clearly describing: 1) his fundamental skills that can transfer to another field (just guessing, I'd say they include analyzing data and financial and research skills); 2) what kind of person he is and the know-how it took to be successful all these years; 3) values he embraces; and 4) examples of how he put that all together to gain a reputation as an innovative and dependable professional.

Better idea: Stop thinking about yourself as your title and start figuring out your nitty-gritty value so another company can be wowed by how you can help them.

Reality No. 2: No one will probably respond to those 600 resumes you sent out.

If you enjoy punishing yourself, stick to your if-I-send-out enough-resumes-someone-will-want-me strategy.

Odds are great you won't get a "thanks," let alone an interview when you answer ads that everyone and his brother is also responding to.

Better plan: Get out there. You'll have greater impact when a potential employer experiences you in living color. So put on your best suit and sit yourself down in front of people where you can apply my first point.

Reality No. 3: Desperation will not win over employers.

When this same man from The New York Times article had his only in-person interview in 18 months and was asked about salary, he replied: "Whatever you're paying, I'll take it."

You may be at the point where you're willing to take anything (that's another topic). But desperation doesn't endear you to employers who want to know you'd actually like to do this job, not just take it for the money.

Better answer: "Money is not my first priority. I'm willing to fit into your pay structure. What does the position pay?"

Reality No. 4: If you lost your job, you did not lose your status as a valuable human.

Referring again to that job hunter, he summarizes his situation like this: "Here's the reality. I used to be somebody. I had a job. Not anymore."

Actually, that's not reality. You did not cease to be somebody when your company said, "So long."

Better way to think of your circumstances: Stuff happens. I was affected. I'm still who I was before and nothing is going to stop me.